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Hanoi (VNA) – Lawyers from the US and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers said they will continue standing by Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO) victims in their lawsuit against US chemical companies.
The lawyers are in Vietnam to work with the Vietnam Association of Victims of AO/dioxin (VAVA) regarding the association's lawsuit.
Jonathan C. Moore, a spokesman for the delegation of US lawyers, who represented the plaintiff in the lawsuit at the US lower and appeal courts, told a press briefing in Hanoi on March 21 that the US courts' decisions were completely wrong in both legal and ethical aspects. He said the use of defoliants containing dioxin had caused severe damages to thousands of US war veterans and millions of Vietnamese people.
Moore affirmed that he would continue do his utmost along with VAVA to gain justice for AO victims.
According to the US lawyer, VAVA sent a petition to the US appeal court on March 7 to request re-consideration of its judgment. If VAVA's proposal is accepted, Vietnamese AO victims will have one more hearing before all the 13 judges of the lower and appeal courts. In case the appeal court does not accept VAVA's proposal, the victims will appeal to the supreme tribunal.
The lawsuit is of significance not only to Vietnamese and US people but also to the international community, Moore said, adding that if no one is made to take responsibility to compensate the victims, the use of toxic chemicals will recur in another war and in another country.
Jitendra Sharma, President of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, said VAVA should further call for support from the world so that no one can reject the legitimate rights of the Vietnamese AO victims.
He revealed that his association will organise a seminar in Tokyo in May and the Vietnamese AO issue will be on the agenda.
VAVA Vice President-cum General Secretary Tran Xuan Thu also affirmed that Vietnamese AO victims are determined to pursue the lawsuit until justice is achieved.
VAVA representing Vietnam's AO victims began its lawsuit against 37 US chemical companies in January 2004 for the fact that these companies have produced toxic chemicals for the US Army to spray in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
The US lower court dismissed the petition at the hearing on March 10, 2005, saying that the defoliants that the US Army used during the war in Vietnam were not prohibited toxic weapons.
Five months later, VAVA appealed to the higher court and joined a hearing in June 2007. However, on February 22, 2008, the US appeal court dismissed the petition, reasoning that the defoliants were used to protect the US Army, not as weapons against civilians.
Statistics released by VAVA showed that from 1961 to 1971, the US Army sprayed 80 million litres of defoliants in Vietnam , including nearly 400 kilos of dioxin. Around 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to dioxin, with 3 million of them suffering health problems related to the exposure.-Enditem
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